THIRTY-SIXTH BIENNIAL REPORT 



15 



stations located higher up on these same streams wouUl encounter the 

 difficulty of inaccessibility during the winter months and even though 

 that Avas overcome it woukl be found that the water temperatures were 

 so low that during most of the winter periods little or no growth could 

 be obtained. Similar difficulties in other States are met tli rough the 

 use of spring water wliich usually maintains a more or less uniform 

 temperature throughout the .year. Although spring water is abundant 

 in California in certain localized areas such as around jMount Lassen 

 and in the Oavciis River basin, the balance of the State is practically 

 without springs of sufficient size to furnish hatchery water supplies. 

 The outstanding success of rearing fish to catchable size in a relatively 

 short period at Plot Creek has demonstrated what can be done under 

 favorable conditions and it should be our objective to duplicate those 

 conditions as nearly as possible. 



mW f 



Looking downstream on a parallel bar fish screen 

 Cleaning bar on screen just above water 



In considering the development of a program i'or rcaringfish of 

 larger size to supplement the production of the present hatcheries, two 

 additional difficulties had to be overcome. The first of these was that 

 of obtaining a satisfactory food supply at a more reasonable cost. Dur- 

 ing the last few years beef liver, wliich constitutes the basic food for 

 young fry and fingerlings and which should constitute from 30 to 40 

 per cent of the food of larger fish, has varied in price from 12 to 18 

 cents per pound delivered at the hatcheries. Since on the average it 

 requires three or more pounds of food to produce a pound ol" fish, it is 

 apparent that the Division of Fish and Game could hardly afford to 

 supply many fish to the anglers which were produced through the use 

 of food of this cost. Over a period of four years a great deal of experi- 

 mentation has been done at the :\rount Shasta Hatchery to determine 

 the usefulness of certain dried milk and meat meals to supplement the 

 use of fresh meat. This has been \vork(Ml .,ut lo the point now where 



